Tie-less bib



Oct. 8, 1968 LAPiDUS 3,404,407

T I! Iii-LESS IS [I3 Filed Oct. 20, 1965 VINVENTOR. $404 LAP/00$ UnitedStates Patent 3,404,407 TIE-LESS BIB Saul Lapidus, 313 W. 74th St., NewYork, N.Y. 10023 Filed Oct. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 499,011 2 Claims. (Cl.249) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tie-less bib made from a sheet ofelastic stretchable material such as polyurethane.

This invention relates to bibs and more particularly to a tie-less bibfor infants.

Tie-less bibs are well known in the art as evidenced by US. Patents3,016,544 and 3,032,773. However, known bibs comprise resiliently biasedopposed neck-encircling members which are annoying to the wearer.Further, they are relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture.Other prior art tie-less bibs comprise paper bibs having perforatedportions which open to permit the wearers head therethrough. However,once the perforations are opened, a large aperture remains so that sucha bib does not satisfactorily fully protect the wearers chest. This is aparticular problem as concerns an infants bib. Further, such bibs aregenerally not reusable.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved bib which isinexpensive and easy to manufacture.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a tieless bib whichis comfortable to wear and provides adequate protection to the wearer.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a tieless infantsbib comprising stretchable, absorbent material, such as polyurethanematerial, which can be passed over the infants head, does not compriseannoying opposing members, and provides adequate protection from spilledliquids or solids.

A feature of this invention resides in the provision of a tie-less bibformed out of a single layer or sheet of material.

Another feature of this invention resides in the provision of a bibconsisting solely of polyurethane material and having an aperture of asize which will not permit an intended wearer to insert his headtherethrough, said polyurethane material being adapted to stretch toenlarge the aperture sufficiently to pass over the wearers head and thenflex to provide adequate protection for the wearer.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this inventionwill become more apparent by reference to the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a bib in accordance with myinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the bib of FIG- URE l; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view illustrating the use of the bib of FIGURE1.

In the illustrated preferred embodiment of the invention, a bib isprovided which comprises a bib-shaped sheet 12 of elastic stretchablematerial. The illustrated bib comprises polyurethane. The sheet may begenerally rectangularly shaped and have rounded corners, frills,pockets, designs, etc., which will aid in producing an attractive andmarketable appearance.

The bib is extremely simple to manufacture since it merely comprises asheet of polyurethane, for example a sheet of one quarter inch thickpolyurethane. The sheet then has an aperture 14 stamped centrally of thelongitudinal sides of the rectangle and approximate one of the shortsides of the rectangle. The aperture may have a variety of shapes, butpreferably either has a circular or elliptical shape. The size of theaperture should be smaller than the head of the intended wearer andsufficiently large to permit the wearer to comfortably wear the bib.Though, generally, the aperture would be larger than the neck of thewearer, this is not essential. For example, it has been found that bibsaccording to the invention which comprise apertures smaller than thenecks of the wearers can be comfortably worn. This is so since thematerial does not rapidly spring back to its normal size or become tootight. This may be contrasted with bibs comprising opposing memberswhich necessarily must be fairly rigid as it is the members which formthe aperture itself.

The pliable material is stretched in passing the bib over the wearershead and flexes to approximately its normal shape when released toprovide a sheet of material covering the wearers chest. The bib startsapproximate the front of the neck of the wearer (see FIGURE 3) and endsat a desired position, such as approximately in the middle of thewearers abdomen. It is to be noted that when a child or infant wears thebib, the aperture should be of a size which protects the infants chestalmost to the neck so that food falling from his chin will be caught bythe bib. Further, the absorbency of the material aids in stopping foodfrom falling or dripping to the floor.

In addition to the aforementioned advantages, most pliant materials tendto cling to the wearer and remain in position. Further, they are easy toclean and can be used many times.

While I have described above the principles of my in vention inconnection with specific embodiments thereof, it is to be clearlyunderstood that this description is made only by way of example and notas a limitation to the scope of my invention, as set forth in theobjects thereof and in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A tie-less bib of one piece construction made of a unitary singlelayer, flat planar sheet of elastic stretchable absorbent syntheticplastic foam material of a size adapted to cover at least a portion ofthe front of an intended wearers trunk, said sheet having an apertureformed therein, the inner surface of which comprises an uninterruptedprofile, so that no cuts radiate therefrom, said aperture being adjacentone of the shorter sides of said sheet and substantially equidistantfrom the long sides, said aperture being substantially circular andnormally of a size which will accommodate the neck of an intended wearerwith said sides normally permitting an intended wearer to insert hishead therethrough by enlargement of the size of said aperture bystretching of the material, said stretched material at the aperturereturning to approximately its normal size around the neck of the wearerand adapted to provide a protective covering which starts approximatelyflush with the neck of the wearer.

"Patented Oct 8, 1968 2. A tie-less bib according to claim 1, in whichsaid sheet of material consists of a sheet of polyurethane foam.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,067,428 12/ 1962 Baker et a1.2-52 1,497,685 6/1924 Hoyme. 1,636,122 7/1927 Brown 248 2,694,199Sanders 2-49 Chagnon 24 Rice 248 Barager 2--49 Hill.

Piazze 249 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Assistant Examiner.

